1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a template and method for using the template to create designs on walls and ceilings, especially upon dry wall, plaster, and stucco.
2. Description of the Related Art
Templates are commonly used either to follow the edges of an aperture within the template with a pen or pencil to create an outline of an object. They are also generally used to block a portion of the paint from a spray gun to create symbols or letters, such as simple warnings on highways. The images created with such templates are, however, only two dimensional.
Templates associated with painting are the subjects of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,129,669; 4,774,108; and 5,186,983.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,858 the template possesses apertures in the desired shape and positions for the lines of a game court. Although the marking device of this patent is a clay-based material, the purpose for the patent, i.e., making the lines for a game court, clearly indicates that a substantially two-dimensional marking is created.
Three other patents are used to create a three-dimensional surface simulating either brickwork or stonework.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,372 applies to a grid having elongated member attached to connecting members to be applied, according to lines 46 through 47 of column 3 in that patent, xe2x80x9cwhere a brick-like or stone-like pattern is desired.xe2x80x9d The grid is placed on a surface, a liquid spread over the surface in the open areas of the grid, the liquid is allowed to dry, and the grid is removed.
The template claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,729 of Ewald Syring is, however, intended to have mineral plaster sprayed onto it when it has been releasably attached to a wall. The apertures in the template are designed to create the appearance of bricks once the template has been removed from the wall. No other design is discussed for the apertures. In fact, the claims clarify that the solid portion of the template (termed xe2x80x9clandsxe2x80x9d) correspond to the xe2x80x9cstructure of the joints.xe2x80x9d
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,941 claims a xe2x80x9cflexible template panel having a pattern of desired grout lines . . . .xe2x80x9d
None of the patents dealing with the creation of three-dimensional patterns suggests that the pattern would be anything other than that of brickwork or stonework.
Moreover, although U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,941 indicates that the template would be flexible and at least one embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,729 would appear to be flexible since it is termed, on line 39 of column 3, a xe2x80x9cpaper-thin layer [that] can be rolled up,xe2x80x9d none of these patents indicate that the template is permanently shaped to accommodate a surface that is not flat.
Additionally, none of these templates is stated to be designed to accommodate any structure that rises from the surface which is to be coated.
The method claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,941 applies mortar to a substrate to create a first layer. Then the template is secured to the first layer. Mortar to create the pattern is then applied over the template and the first layer. Both layers do not contain a resultant design.
The template of the present invention contains apertures to create any desired decorative design, not merely to simulate brickwork or stonework.
The template is also permanently shaped to accommodate the surface to which a design is to be applied, whether that surface is flat or curved.
Edges of the template are shaped to accommodate the shape of any structure, such as a light fixture, which is on or rises from the surface on which the design is to be applied.
Alternatively or additionally, apertures exist in the template to accommodate structures which are on or rise from the surface on which the design is to be applied. And, rather than having such accommodating apertures already in the template, the template may be scored to create a section that can be pushed from the template to create an accommodating aperture.
Finally, to create designs upon designs, a first template may have apertures to create a first layer of a three-dimensional design. A second template then has apertures to create a design to be place on the first layer. Subsequent templates have apertures to create designs on the immediately preceding layer. Templates after the first template optionally have supports which extend from the template to the surface upon which the original three-dimensional layer is placed. And such subsequent templates are preferably either transparent or have alignment marks that can be coordinated with marks removably place on the surface to assure that the various layers of designs are properly oriented with respect to one another.